What were you doing 5 years ago today?
It's impossible to avoid the horrific photos of 911 today. The news is plastered with them. There have been far worse tragedies however seeing the planes hit the towers and knowing people who lost friends on the flights makes it more personal for me. Do you remember where you were?
I was working in radio at the time. I remember my brother shaking me awake telling me I had to come watch the tv. I sat down just in time to see the second plane hit the towers. I knew it was a matter of time before the phone rang telling me to get to work. It rang. I remember driving downtown into work and the city was deserted. Living in the capital city of Canada working only a few minutes from the Parliament Buildings and the Prime Minister's house, and right across the street from the US Embassy, that area of town was on high alert. Everyone was gone home early from work. I remember producing a steady stream of on air news shows and answering calls from people who were confused and upset and wondering what to do. I felt numb. It was like a dream and nobody could believe it was happening. I'll never forget it.
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Seems 9/11 will never be forgotten by our generation. Like I said in my blog I was home about to have dinner when I happen to come accross the live feed by CNN. I immediately racked my brain if we have friends or relatives living in New York good thing one of my friends whose from Jersey is still on her way to work and was planning to take the subway to NY when it happened.
When I first moved to NJ and I was travelling a ton for work, flying back to Newark and seeing the towers was always a welcome sight and a reminder that I had moved somewhere that I wanted to be and felt more like home than anywhere else I've ever lived. After being laid off and finding another job in CA I sadly left.
Today 5 years ago, I was in CA at my parents house. I received a call from someone that told me to turn on the news because of the first plane. Like everyone else, I watched helpessly as I knew several people that worked in various telecom functions in that complex as I wondered if they got out in one piece. I started doing traceroutes to devices I knew were in various parts of the complex and actually watched a few of them go down as one building collapsed and then the other.
When the second tower collapsed I freaked out. I started screaming "No, No, No" over and over again and was so upset I ended up with a massive nosebleed. I spent the rest of the day regaining contact with friends in NY/NJ and getting phone calls from people on the road telling me how far inland (into NJ) the debris cloud had gone.
This single event reminded me that I was on the wrong coast line (again) and I had to get back as soon as possible. 3 weeks later I was back and working on rebuilding the cellular network in lower manhattan that was totally dependent on the WTC for service.
I knew no one that died personally but many that were affected and I want to puke when I hear bag pipes because of all of the funerals in such a short period of time after the attacks. Regardless of the event, the sound will always remind me of how many firefighters that died that day.
I am still very upset at the Amercican media that has totally ignored the efforts of Canada in taking in so many travellers that were flying to the U.S. that day. Hardly anything was written about the average person that took in a person or family and welcomed them when they were denied access by the U.S., yet the U.K is our gretest ally? WTF?
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